You cannot determine Refusal of a wood pile by vibratory installation.

Wes Paxton of Paxton Construction in Chesapeake, Virginia hired Mark Torchia of Frametastics to install a pile foundation that was designed by Engineer Michael Schooley of Small Potatoes Engineering (really the name, check it out smallpotatoese... ). Wes Paxton and Schooley claimed these 30-foot wood pilings were "driven to refusal" Obviously, they were installed to a predetermined point, and the installation was halted, as seen in the video. Had the Engineer Michael Schooley requested a Geo-technical study done for the site, he would have known there is soft soil, sand, and clay to 70 feet. The Piles were installed without the proper engineering tests or records required by the code. Subsequently, the house shakes laterally extremely bad. I had to hire a Geo-technical firm to bore into the ground to see what was there. Nothing in the Geo-technical study would indicate a substrate that would facilitate the refusal of the wooden piles during installation using a vibrating plate. The vibrator is a modified vibrating compactor plate and is attached to a John Deere excavator. In fact, the pilings that were supposed to be driven to a minimum depth of 25 feet per Schooley's plan were only driven to 19 to 21 feet. Where the manufacturer of the modular home suggested a foundation that included 27 pilings, Schooley only required 15 pilings on his plan, which became overloaded as soon as the modular house was set. The girders were made from two 2x12's and spanned 11' 8" from pile to pile. They were proven to be overspanned and overloaded as well and not installed in accordance with the plan. But Schooley acting as the Special Inspector did not record any deficiencies, even though he admitted there were deficiencies. This information is being provided to the public as a warning to anyone planning to do business with these contractors. The foundation is going to cost $60,000 to repair. I had a two-year court battle with Paxton Construction, and they offered to settle out of court on the day of trial. I spent over $50,000 fighting this suit. And Paxton has not yet paid the cash portion of the settlement, and it's been over 30 days. Of course, I was supposed to get it in a week after settlement. Guess we will need to talk to the Judge after all.